The State of Maine benefits from the lottery

BANGOR, Maine (NEWS CENTER)-- Wednesday nights estimated Powerball Jackpot is $550 million. Sales from those Powerball tickets and other Maine Lottery games help out the state.

The Deputy Director of the Maine State Lottery Tim Poulin said the state collects an average of 32 cents per ticket on draw games like Powerball. The state also collects an average of 18 cents on every dollar spent on instant scratch off games.

According to Poulin, that money goes into the State of Maine General Fund, and last year the Maine Lottery transferred a record amount of money to the state.

"For fiscal year 12 (2012) that ended on June 30th, we transferred a record $53.7 million to the general fund. So that's good, that's not insignificant money that the lottery provides in profit back to the state," Poulin said.

If anyone wins the jackpot, Poulin advises that people should sign the ticket and store it in a safe place and then meet with a financial planner and or attorney before collecting any money.